The World Wide Web (also known and hereinafter referred to as the “Internet”) is a rapidly expanding network of computers which provide users with numerous services and a wealth of information. The internet is primarily a visually based system, allowing a user to graphically interact with an image or series of images on a display screen.
The internet was originally created as a non-commercial venue to provide communication links between government institutions as well as institutions of higher learning. Today, the internet has evolved to become a universal network of computers which include private industry as well as government institutions. The internet has become widely accessible to many people from computers located in many different places including homes and offices. Users are able to locate updated information regarding the weather, stock prices, news and many other topics. Further, users are able to locate a wide variety of information regarding products and services. Users are also able to buy products and services from retailer-oriented internet sites which are then shipped or provided to them after their order is placed. On auction-oriented internet sites users are able to bid against other users for products or services with the user making the highest bid within the specified time period receiving the particular product or service. Users are also able to communicate with other users over the internet through e-mail, bulletin boards, message lists and chat sites.
The internet offers many advantages over other media. The internet seamlessly links together and provides to users information stored on geographically distant servers. Similarly, the information on a server can be remotely updated from any geographic point from which access to the internet can be obtained.
When a user accesses information on a server over the internet, the user interfaces with the server through a website. Many websites offer hyperlinks to other websites, making the internet user friendly and allowing users to efficiently jump between websites and webpages. When accessing a website with a hyperlink to another website, by selecting the hyperlink, the user is enabled to link directly from the current website to the linked website without entering an address of the linked website. In use, a hyperlink is a visually discernible notation. The user activates or selects the hyperlink by “clicking” on the hyperlink notation or icon. This selection of the hyperlink is also referred to as a point and click operation. The user's computer is programmed to automatically access the website identified by the hyperlink as a result of the user's point and click operation.
When accessing an internet site, a user instructs a computer system, settop box or other internet access device to dial up the server of the user's internet service provider. The internet access device then controls the operation of a modem to establish the connection with the internet service provider over the public switched telephone network. Once a connection has been made between the modem and the internet service provider, the user must then log on to the service, usually by entering a username and a password. When the user is logged on to the service, the user can then access services and information provided by the service provider and also information available through web pages at other addresses on the internet. When accessing information available over the internet, the user connects through their service provider to other servers which are providing information. This information is usually provided at internet sites and web pages. Each internet site and web page has a particular address through which it can be accessed. By entering this address, the user is instructing their internet service provider to connect them to that address. As described above, the user also instructs their internet service provider to connect them to a specific address by selecting a hyperlink through a point and click operation.
Content available over the internet has been limited by the bandwidth and capabilities of the content provider's equipment, the internet service provider's equipment and the end user's equipment, as well as the bandwidth and capabilities of distribution systems through which the end user accesses the content from the internet service provider. As the bandwidth and capabilities of equipment and the available distribution systems have improved, the types and quality of content available over the internet has grown. Content providers now provide streaming media to end users which is a rich media including audio and video combined in a format which when viewed, allows the user to watch video clips of news, music performances, movies, etc.
Live content is content which changes as it is viewed, so that at any particular moment in time it is different than if viewed or heard prior to or after that moment. Part of the attraction of live content is that one does not know what will happen next, or one does know and is willing to wait and experience the live content. The live content is used to entertain and inform people and organized groups of people. Typical live content includes audio and video available on the internet, chat, cameras linked to the internet referred to as webcams, statistical feeds of information known as tickers, and live editorial or text.
There are several different ways and methods by which the live content is transmitted to the end user, which control how the end user is allowed to experience the content. A first method is a true live transmission method which means that the end user is experiencing the event on the internet at approximately the same time the content is being produced, or with a very short delay of seconds or minutes. This true live transmission method would be most common in live events that are occurring at approximately the same moment as the end user is experiencing that event, such as live music concerts or live sporting events. A second method is a pseudo live transmission method, which means that the content is produced in advance and it is presented on the internet at a scheduled time so as to create an impression of a live event. Most television programs fit into this pseudo live category. A third method is an on-demand transmission method which allows the end user to experience the live content at a time of their choice. This on-demand method can be used to access recorded or archived content that was originally true live content or pseudo live content. This on-demand method is quite common as a method to gain a larger audience for the live content, because the end user can experience the content at a time of their choice.
As the internet has grown, the demand for live content has increased and the supply or production of live content has grown as well. This has created an environment where the types of live content are diverse in their characteristics, yet the infrastructure is not in place to properly promote and distribute the content to end users. One of the problems associated with distributing live content arises because live content changes a lot at the last minute, as well as changes by definition while it is being experienced by an end user. This dynamic aspect of the live content has made basic communication and promotion of the live content difficult unless the live content is a major event that breaks through on a public relations level so that everyone knows when and where it occurs. Conventional search engines also do a poor job of tracking and providing information about live content. With most live content, the highest value is realized if the end users all experience the live content at the designated time. However, gaining an audience of an appropriate size at the designated time on the internet is difficult.
There are also difficulties associated with the actual production and distribution of live content. Live content is expensive to produce and distribute to the end user. Because the live content involves time-based elements it requires a combination of speed and precision to produce and distribute. There are also currently not industry accepted standards for generating revenue from the live content. Accordingly, each time for example, that a producer and sponsor agree on business terms for the production and distribution of live content, there are still many new issues that must be quickly worked out.
The experience of live content has been shown to have a high value to the end user. Because of this end users have a high degree of excitement about the live content and will generally buy more goods associated with the live content and have a more memorable experience. Yet, many end users still do not have access to the proper system or services to experience the live content as it was intended to be experienced.
The types of business relationships that occur relative to standard internet content, such as advertising and sponsorships are more difficult with live content. The initiation and maintenance of these types of relationships are difficult with live content because of the dynamic nature of the content, the speed at which a dialogue needs to occur and the ad-hoc nature of many of the business relationships that are entered into relative to live content, because the true live content is for a specific event or moment in time.
Since live content changes frequently, the addition of contextual information that describes or promotes the content, before, during and after the transmission of the live content is often necessary. New publishing tools from self-publishing for the amateur to high-end systems for professional webcasters and technologies have given rise to a wide variety of presentation methods for live content. Because few standard presentation methods currently exist to combine live content, there is typically a high degree of experimentation. Standards including XML, SMIL, RSS and ICE have emerged to help with the integration and distribution of content, yet most of these standards require a custom vocabulary associated with a particular application. No such standard currently exists which addresses the unique problems associated with the integration and distribution of live content.